The War Within Us: Everyman's Guide to Infection and Immunity - Hardcover

Mims, Cedric A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0124982514 ISBN 13: 9780124982512

Publisher: Academic Press, 2000

Synopsis

Infectious diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. In The War Within Us, well-known author and infectious disease specialist Cedric Mims makes the intricacies of the immune system and infectious diseases less baffling for the general reader and answers the questions of how things work and why. The story is told in terms of the ancient conflict between the invader (the infectious disease) and the defender (the body's immune system) and the strategies and counter-strategies used by both sides, making it a book that is both informative and interesting to read. The War Within Us is an ideal introduction to the basics of immunity and infection for general readers and students. It also serves as a quick reference book for physicians, researchers, and other health workers.

• Parasite versus host
• The conflict: how we defend ourselves
• The microbe's response to our defence
• How microbes cause diseas
• Thumbnail sketches of seven selected diseases:
• The threat of new diseases

About this title

About the Author

Cedric Mims began as a zoologist, studying under GP Wells and JBS Haldane at University College, London. He then went to the Middlesex Hospital Medical School, London, graduating in 1952. After hospital appointments he spent three years in Uganda studying tropical fevers, and then 16 years in Canberra, Australia, interspersed with two years in the USA. This was followed by a 20-year period in London as Professor of Microbiology at Guy's Hospital Medical School, where his enthusiasm for teaching found its outlet. His entire career has focused on infectious diseases and immunology, and he has produced five books and more than a hundred scientific papers on these subjects. He has four children and nine grandchildren and lives in the Sussex countryside.

From the Back Cover

Tales of wonderbugs, wonderdrugs, death and contagion are regular news items. We have all suffered from and been vaccinated against infectious diseases, but most of us are ignorant about such matters. We do not need to know how a car or a television set works when we use them, but some understanding of how the body responds to microbial invaders is worthwhile. After all, inside every one of us, regularly, there is this war, with no holds barred and death for the loser. It is a personal, intimate affair. The War Within Us portrays an infectious disease as the result of an armed conflict between the microbial parasite and the host. It is a war that has been going on for millions of years.Surely we owe it to our own bodies to be interested.@introbul:Covers:@bul:* Parasite versus host* The conflict: how we defend ourselves* The microbe's response to our defence* How microbes cause disease* Thumbnail sketches of seven selected diseases: * The threat of new diseases

Edition details

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0124982514
• ISBN 13: 9780124982512
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288